Sunday 13 September 2015 01:07, UK
John Wayne Hibbert is the new Commonwealth light-welterweight champion after Dave Ryan was stopped in odd circumstances.
The Derby man dictated the vast majority of the fight but appeared to suffer a back injury at the start of the 10th and after sustaining a colossal right hand in the corner, referee Ian John-Lewis intervened - to the delight of Hibbert.
The bout failed to match the pair's second encounter for relentless exchanges, and Ryan intelligently used his superior reach to keep the Essex man at bay and claim arguably all the rounds in the first half of the fight.
There seemed to be another Ryan stoppage on the cards in the sixth round though, when he sent Hibbert to his knees with a vicious shot to the solar plexus - but the challenger bravely rose to his feet and withstood another barrage to hear the bell.
Ryan took his foot off the gas slightly after that and Hibbert upped his work-rate in an attempt to swing the momentum - but what happened in the 10th can only be considered poor luck for Ryan, who suddenly reached for his lower back in pain and began to move sheepishly.
Pouncing, Hibbert cornered his struggling opponent in the corner and unleashed a savage right that shook Ryan to his boots - prompting the stoppage and scenes of wild celebration in Hibbert's corner.
Hibbert told Sky Sports afterwards: "One word: redemption. It was such a tough fight. It was different to the last one - much more technical. Ryan is awkward and such a tough warrior. For him to pull out like that, it must have been very serious because he's a hard man.
"I tell you what. He isn't having a rematch. He can have the 2-1! I didn't know he'd done his back in and I caught him with a good shot. I listened to my corner and they told me I had to put it on in the last few rounds.
"If I had carried on like that I'd have won the fight. He caught me with a really good body shot in the sixth round and that really hurt, but I thought about my children and I said I'd bring the belt home to my daughter.
"If it makes sense, I'll get on it a fourth time. That's down to Eddie and the team to see where we go from here."
